Public Safety Commission Recommends Bolstering Deputy Presence In Malibu By $1.1 Million
Written by 991KBU on May 6, 2021
One major issue …. an increase in both the amount and type of crime in Malibu.
Last night …. the city Public Safety Commission took a look at recommendations for increasing the number of patrol deputies in Malibu.
Malibu has 13 county deputies patrolling the city every day … at a cost of 8 million dollars.
Sheriff’s Lt Jim Braden explains the deployment:
NEWSCART 73545 BRADEN 13 COPS
“You have four during day shift you have five approximately on p-m and you have four on early mornings.
“But geographically Malibu is a huge city.
“It’s not like West Hollywood or something where I can leave the station and be on any call in like two minutes.”
Additional resources …. of course …. are available when needed from the Lost Hills station or other stations if needed.
But last night … perhaps for the first time … a serious public discussion of police levels in Malibu.
The city experimented by adding a two-deputy unit … 4 evenings a week … to stop crimes before they escalated.
Lt Braden calls that the suppression car.
NEWSCART 73452 BRADEN SUPPRESSION CAR
“They are not waiting for something to happen.
“They go address issues before they become an issue … and deal with certain people that come to Malibiu that they are not the type you want in Malibu.
“It has an impact in Malibu ….
“It’s hard to say what the impact is in Malibu … because literally what we sell is peace of mind and safety.”
The suppression car experiment ends in a month …. and the city council is very pleased with the number of arrests and crime interdiction that the suppression car has achieved.
The idea is to keep that …
Adding two overnight cars 7 days per week would cost a million and a half dollars … plus 183 thousand dollars up front to pay for two more copcars.
The Public Safety Commission recommended that the additional deputies be scaled back a bit …
Continue the evening suppression car … five nights a week.
And add two overnight deputies …. also five nights a week …
Plus an additional 20 hours of motorcycle traffic patrols … a 25 percent increase.
all that is gojng to cost about 1 point 1 million dollars.
And this … all of the budget and deputy deployment decisions …. all of it is recommendations … for the entire city council to decide.
